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In the valuation process, cash flow projections are of crucial importance. These in turn depend on estimates for things like market growth or expected market share. When working on projections, people will often make assumptions that are no better than hunches. For Kevin Kaiser that won’t do. Kaiser, who advocates a more rigorous approach, teaches…

Ten years ago, if Breanndán Ó Nualláin told people that he is a professor in AI, they would not really have an idea what that was all about. This has radically changed. Nowadays every newspaper will carry some article or mention of the topic. All this attention notwithstanding, finance professionals still struggle to grasp the…

Modern business is data-driven. Financial information offers realtime insights that allow on the fly decision making, and provide critical input for long term strategy formulation. However, there is a flipside to this. An overly strong focus on financial data can put the strategy on the backburner and lead to confusion within an organization, warns Susan…

Every day, we are faced with many decisions and choices. About making an investment, assessing an existing project, engaging in a new project, deciding on a strategic priority, solving a problem, responding to a proposal, hiring a new team member, assessing someone’s performance, choosing how to best present a case, doing a forecast, buying a…

Misfortune never comes alone. This age-old adage that dates back to at least Roman times is still very true today. A cybersecurity breach, a case of internal fraud, or a supply chain disruption: on their own incidents like these already pose a great danger. Managed poorly, they could snowball into an existential threat, warns Tobias…

Managing risk is one of the core activities of a financial institution. Of course, procedures and governance structures have to be in place, but on top of that front experience and common sense are critical, argues financial expert Patrick Oberhaensli. He teaches the Financial Risk Management program at the Amsterdam Institute of Finance, and shares…

Professor Cyril Demaria, an experienced investor, shares invaluable lessons from his multi-decade career through his program on Entrepreneurial Finance: Venture Capital Financing. A view from the classroom: On the road from a good idea to a thriving business, capital from external investors is essential. But as an investor, how do you know exactly what a…

What are the most popular articles on AIF.nl from the first half of 2023? Discover the 7 most frequently read reports, interviews and insights: 1. SVB collapse: thoughts from Prof. Choudhry (Bank ALM)“The story is still unfolding, so the final ‘lessons learned’ could differ from what I say here. But, in essence, it does appear…

A common theme in M&A is that a majority of deals destroy shareholder value. Often, acquirers overpay and fail to realize projected synergies. However, with the right preparation, and execution while taking a systematic approach, deal success is very much achievable, argues Timothy Galpin. As the author of several books on M&A, he is considered…

“If you can sail a ship through a true storm, you will be a better captain,” says Prof. Joost de Haas. “If you put pressure on the system or the company, then you see where the weak spots are and you learn to be a better manager.” Saving Saab?Could Saab Automobile have been saved? That’s…